Tragedy Babes
2024 · 11m · USA
Directed by Christa Haley
Tones: dark, darkly comic, tense
A young woman's obsession with live-streaming spirals out of control during a night out when a real emergency unfolds in a dark alleyway, turning private tragedy into public spectacle.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
Filmmaker actually livestreamed the shoot and real viewers thought the emergency was real — that's the kind of meta-prank that justifies the film's whole thesis. The film itself sounds fine but the production gimmick is the art.
Haley's meta-gesture of actually live-streaming the shoot while filming a livestream-spectacle critique is the formal commitment I respect, in the Searching-adjacent screen-life tradition. Palm Springs and Montclair confirm the rigor.
11:07 with Kelly Dépeault and Thea Sofie Loch Næss (The Ugly Stepsister) — and the production gag of actually livestreaming the shoot so real viewers tuned in believing the emergency was real proves the film's thesis through its own making. Palm Springs ShortFest plus Montclair backs it.
Reviews
A fantastic morality tale about social media obsession — the cast is fantastic at being sympathetic and despicable while acting like typical young women.
This is a rockstar of a short film, especially considering it comes out of Haley's second year of her graduate film program.
Festivals
- Palm Springs International ShortFest 2024
- Montclair Film Festival 2024